Friday, September 19, 2014

Every time I've gone to the Metropolitan Museum of Art over the past few years, I've been bugged by a sign announcing the construction of the David H. Koch Plaza. The plaza was unveiled on Tuesday, with a group of protesters on hand who objected to the tribute to the billionaire right-wing activist. Following current law-enforcement practice, they were cordoned off into a "protest pen" across the street. The protesters symbolically renamed the plaza the “Art for the Planet Plaza.” A flyer explained the group's motivation: "David H. Koch and his brothers are mega-billionaires who use their vast fortunes to denyclimate change and buy elections. Koch Industries is the largest funder of climate science denying organizations in the world, outpacing even ExxonMobil. They have spent more than $67 million since 1997 to buy advertising, corporate media, talk show hosts, and lobbyists while legally bribing politicians to deny the catastrophic effects of climate change." Above, David Koch is shown grimacing at the protesters; below is an image three protesters projected onto the museum, "KOCH = CLIMATE CHAOS: The Met is a museum, not an oil lobby." They were arrested and reportedly charged for "illegal advertising."